Центральная Азия / Средняя Азия

English translation: Central Asian Soviet republics - Central Asia

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05:11 Mar 11, 2007

Russian to English translations [PRO]Social Sciences - Government / Politics

Thanks to everyone for your input. Special thanks to Rustam for the link to the article. The speech that I will have to interpret tomorrow is based on this article. Please note, however, that the translator of the article explains the meaning of "Middle Asia" in a footnote. Apparently, this term will require some explanation, which is not something I can do during simultaneous interpretation. I think I'll stick with Andrew Vdovin's suggestion, which is similar to what I had in mind before asking this question.
To those who suggested "Middle East" as the equivalent of "Средняя Азия", this kind of translation would really get me into trouble at the conference. I think I made it clear which geographical area the two terms refer to.

Thanks for the link. Indeed, there's a passage that refers to the distinction between the two:

"However, the Russian language has two distinct terms: Средняя Азия (Srednyaya Azia or "Middle Asia", the narrower definition which includes only those traditionally non-Slavic, "Central Asian" lands that were incorporated within those borders of historical Russia) and Центральная Азия (Tsentral'naya Azia or "Central Asia", the wider definition which includes "Central Asian" lands that have never been part of historical Russia). However, there lacks a meaningful distinction between the two in the English language; and so "Central Asia" is used for both Russian usages, thus creating some confusion. The new post-USSR Russian Federation has now included Kazakhstan in its new definition of "Middle Asia"."http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Asia#Definitions

And yes, "Middle Asia" would probably work in some contexts, but I would prefer something more neutral to use at this conference. The subject of the conference is geopolitics, and I'm not sure whether introducing a new term would be a good idea. What do others think?

Central Asia consists of the republics of Kazakstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. These states, all former republics of the Soviet Union, became independent in 1991.

Wikipedia:

Central Asia is a vast landlocked region of Asia. Though various definitions of its exact composition exist, no one definition is universally accepted. Despite this uncertainty in defining borders, it does have some important overall characteristics. For one, Central Asia has historically been closely tied to its nomadic peoples and the Silk Road. As a result, it has acted as a crossroads for the movement of people, goods, and ideas between Europe, the Middle East, South Asia, and East Asia. It is also sometimes known as Middle Asia or Inner Asia, and is within the scope of the wider Eurasian continent.

It is largely coextensive with Turkestan. **Roughly speaking, Central Asia consists of large states like Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and smaller states like Azerbaijan** (lying on the other side of the Caspian Sea). In geopolitical contexts, the states of Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan are often meant.

For "the Middle East" definition see:

One widely used definition of the "Middle East" is that of the airline industry, maintained by the IATA standards organization. This definition — as of early 2007 — includes Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Palestinian territories, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somaliland, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.[10] This definition is used in world-wide airfare and tax calculations for passengers and cargo.

In 1958, the State Department explained that the terms "Near East" and "Middle East" were interchangeable, and defined the region as including only Egypt, Syria, Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar

The Greater Middle East is a political term invented to refer to the Islamic World including the non-Arabic countries of Turkey, Iran, Israel, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.[1] Various Central Asian countries and the lower Caucasus (Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia) are sometimes also included.[2] Some speakers may use the term to denote areas with significant Muslim minorities, but this usage is not universal.

This expanded term was introduced in the U.S. administration's preparatory work for the G8 summit of 2004[3] as part of a proposal for sweeping change in the way the West deals with the Middle East. This initiative is aimed at the Muslim world in the region and promoted heavily by neoconservative think tanks such as Project for the New American Century. It was outlined around the Helsinki Accords from 1975.